By: Madeline Dunham
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
“Make Disciples”
Jesus calls us to make disciples of all nations. How are we doing with this today? Let us be honest. I can tell you right now that there are moments the Lord compels me to share the gospel and I choose to ignore Him. Of course, there is grace for moments like these. He knows the challenges we face in this world as He once faced them Himself. However, we often choose to look at grace as an excuse to be passive. The effects of this passivity are detrimental because as we choose to be passive, we are choosing to rob others of the opportunity to know Jesus.
My heart was stirred after reading an article written by Paul Ratner about religion today. Paul argued that religion is not going anywhere, but that the demographics are slowly shifting. Right now, Christianity is the most popular religion in the world. However, by 2060 research suggests that Christian growth will be reduced by 72 million people. 72 million people.
Can you believe that? Research also shows that Christians are dying faster than they are being born. Our time on earth as believers is not being spent fulfilling God’s purpose for us, or we would see more individual’s accepting Christ as their savior. Paul writes that we should, “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that [our] labor is not in vain.”
“Our labor is not in vain”
Our purpose on this earth is to glorify God in all that we do. That’s it. When our lives are centered on that purpose, so our efforts will be centered on furthering the kingdom. Every cold shoulder, unkind word and lack of receptivity to God’s message coming from Him inside us is worth the possibility that a seed might be planted. Our labor, the hard times, and the rejection we face—none of it is in vain. He delights in using us to carry out His purpose. It is an honor that we are chosen to be bearers of good news. May our faith spur us to action, so we might change the statistic of Christianity declining to a statistic filled with growth and eternal hope for the people of all nations.